Trafficking suspect tied to woman's June death

Ginger Ferguson holds a photo of her sister Jacqueline Johnson, who was found June 2, her body still burning.

Photo By Couretsy photo

Glen L. Dukes

The sister of a woman whose body was set on fire and dumped along an East Side street confirmed that a man arrested this week for forcing women into prostitution is the prime suspect in her loved one's slaying.

Glen L. Dukes, 43, remains jailed without bail for violating parole; he's been charged with two counts of continuous trafficking of persons.

He's not charged in connection with any homicides.

But Ginger Ferguson said Friday that police told her Dukes is suspected in her sister's slaying.

Jacqueline Johnson, 24, was found around 2:40 a.m. on June 2, her body still burning when firefighters got to the 100 block of Shrader Street, a police report said. The cause of death remains undetermined.

“I made the mistake of seeing my sister's body and what he did to her,” said Ferguson, 40. “When I close my eyes that is all I see. I want him to suffer as much as she did.”

No one deserves to die the way she did, said both Ferguson and her daughter, Christine, 19.

“I want to know why anyone would hurt her,” Christine Ferguson said through tears, adding that her aunt was funny, kind and a loving person. “Everyone loved her.”

And while Johnson had overcome a drug problem, her family said previously; she had a job and was straightening out her life. Both Ginger and Christine Ferguson said they briefly saw Dukes with their sister when he picked her up once.

Dukes is accused of running a prostitution ring out of an East Side house and is believed to have committed “violent acts on many levels” against other women, Chief William McManus said Thursday.

In his mug shot, Dukes appears to have “Pimpin Ken” tattooed on his forehead — the nickname used by Ken Ivy, a self-described pimp and author of “Pimpology: The 48 Laws of The Game.”

Aside from possible physical abuse, traffickers often are manipulative. Research also shows women are pitted against each other, which gives the trafficker more power.

The women often distrust police, which can create challenges for investigators.

Whether Johnson was working for Dukes or just knew him wasn't available.

Police have not publicly named Dukes as a suspect in Johnson's killing or the three other instances on the East Side of women turning up dead, their naked bodies dumped outside. Of those three, only one has been ruled a homicide.

On Oct. 2, a bicyclist found Stephanie Garcia, 24, in the grass near Roland Avenue and Terron Road. She'd been strangled, according to the medical examiner's office. Attempts to reach her family Friday weren't successful.

The cause of death for the other two women is undetermined and no trauma was found on their bodies, officials said.

Anyone with information about Dukes is asked to call police at 210-207-2313 or Crime Stoppers at 210-224-7867.